Waiting
by Foxes at Night in Tailcoats
Summary: A little girl waits for her brother to come home from his first term at Hogwarts.


The little girl had been sitting in the window seat all afternoon. Presently she was peering around the thick, dark, velvet curtains, watching the trees on the front lawn sway and bend in captivity to the storm. Their leaves were already changing into their Autumn regalia, as if every year they felt they had to put on a final burst of splendour before tucking themselves into slumber during the cold winter months.

In the massive fireplace the flames licked and swirled, the wind outside helping to dictate whether they performed gentle pirouettes or actions seemingly filled with rage. A pinecone popped, and the girl's head instantly turned from behind the curtain to focus on it. When nothing untoward occurred, her eyes instantly moved on to her mother.

That fine lady was sitting calmly in an armchair, her rose catalogues and archives strewn over her lap and the floor as she passed the time by making decisions on what new additions were to be planted in the garden that Autumn, and whether she should cross breed So-and-so with 'Yes, maybe that one will work'. One would think that she was that over-used cliché, an Oasis of Calm.

The little girl knew better. She knew that her mother was waiting just as eagerly as she was for her brother to come home. She had been there all afternoon fussing over first her needlepoint, then her book, and finally her rose catalogues, though the child had observed that even this last one, her mother's true passion and beloved hobby, was not keeping her full attention tonight.

The girl's thoughts turned once again to her older brother. She could not wait until he was home again. He was eleven, and therefore had been sent off to Mother and Father's old school, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the finest school in all of the whole world, or so her father liked to tell both of them. She and her brother would often sit on the settee with him, one on either side, and begged and pleaded with him for stories of his and mother's school days.

Now her brother would have his own stories to tell her. Upon impulse, she suddenly clutched up a ragged piece of paper and the rather battered stuffed rabbit that was keeping her company in her vigil and presented it to her mother.

'Please. Please read it to me again.'

Her mother smiled and moved the catalogues to make space for the daughter who looked so much like her. The child, once settled, fumbled with opening the letter, which, in truth, looked like it might fall apart in the very near future, it had been observed so often.

'**Dear Little Sister,**' it began. She knew this. She had memorised it. _'Soon it will be half-term. That means there are holidays and I will be coming home. I have many more stories to tell you about Hogwarts, it is just as amazing as Father and Mother have told us. But I do miss you. You and I would have a great time exploring all of the strange corners of the castle and talking to the portraits. I bet you would like the Bloody Baron, I think you and he would get right on. And I keep telling you about the food, little Sis, but it's really amazing, on special occasions you just think what you want and there it is!_

_Last week my friend Pansy (you know Pansy, she was the one who braided your hair when we had that party at the start of summer), anyway, she swears that last week she saw a unicorn. Now all of the girls are looking for them (and some of the boys too, I caught Greg sneaking around the edge of the forest with sugar lumps the other day, his face went so red when I teased him about it!) I know you would love to see a unicorn, maybe when you come here you will get to._

_I know that you will probably have got Mother to read this letter to you. But it is really for you, little Sis. I do miss you loads and I am really excited to see you next week. I'll be arriving around 8.00 p.m., Father will be picking me up from KCX as he will have finished work by then. I know that this is past your bedtime, but please ask Mother if you can stay up and wait for me. Promise her you will go straight to sleep afterwards when she tells you to._

_See you next Friday!_

_(8.00 p.m.!) (approx..!_

_Your Big Brother,_

_Draco xx'_

The girl looked at her mother as she finished reading and received a smile for her troubles. She curled up close to her parent, thumb in her mouth, and continued holding the fire under scrutiny. It was getting harder and harder though, her eyelids kept dropping and she kept yawning . . . .

Noise woke her, strange noises of whooshing and louder crackles and bangs, and the idea that there was more people in the room than there had been before pushing through her subconscious and trying to remind her of something.

'Wake up, wake up 'Rissa. It's your brother'.

The little girl opened her eyes and suddenly she saw him there, looking unchanged. She squealed and jumped off her mother's lap, in running towards him he trounced her intentions and scooped her up, hugging her hard.

''Rissa!'

'I followed your instructions, I got Mother to let me stay up, I wasn't asleep, honest!'

'No, of course not!' He grinned at her and then hugged her again.

'Draco'

'Yes'

'Have you finished school now? Can you stay home?'

He smiled at her, kneeling to her height and taking her hands.

'No, not yet. But there's shedloads of holidays, I'll be popping in and out all of the time. So it'll be cool.'

A traitorous yawn suddenly came out of her, deep from inside. She was way past her bedtime.

'Draco, why don't you help Sacharissa to bed?' their Mother suggested, smiling.

'C'mon, 'Rissa, you got Mr Bun? Good then, let's go.' He took her hand and guided her away. Later, she knew, when she was asleep he would stay up and talk to their parents. But for now, he was all hers. Her big brother.


End file.
